Republican Presidential Debate in Iowa: US Economy Takes Center Stage

I wrote a commentary for the CAPS website that I want to share with you. As you will see the focus of this commentary is the Republican Presidential debate that was conducted in Iowa this past week.

The economy took center stage. This is understandable- but yet it was amazing that when immigration was brought up it was treated as a separate issue. What still appears to elude our politicians and the journalists is that immigration is not an isolated and relatively minor issue, but is, in reality a major factor in every challenge that confronts our nation. The lunacy is that for the most part, politicians fail to acknowledge just how important immigration is to all of the challenges that confront our nation today and will continue to be the focus of the next administration and, in fact, for every administration for the foreseeable future!

What many Americans, including apparently our nation’s leaders don’t realize is that prior to the Second World War, the enforcement and administration of our nation’s immigration laws was the responsibility of the United States Department of Labor. The concern was that if large numbers of foreign workers entered our country, American workers would likely suffer a reduction in pay and a worsening of working conditions or even ultimately lose their jobs to those foreign workers. Labor is a commodity and under the principle of “supply and demand,” dumping large numbers of foreign workers onto the job market would ultimately cause the value of labor in those jobs and careers affected by that sudden increase in supply, to plummet.

Before you think that it would be good to not have to pay so much for labor to decrease the costs of goods and services, you must realize that while many people, especially the Immigration Anarchists” love to repeat the mantra that “America was built by immigrants” you must realize that many countries experience large influxes of foreign nationals (aliens). What has made America the shining example of success that was the envy of the world was not just the influx of aliens but the rapid growth of the Middle Class. Our Middle Class was the way that anyone who worked hard and developed skills or acquired a good education could succeed!

Today the Middle Class belongs on the “Endangered Species List!” If we kill off our Middle Class, we will have succeeded in destroying the engine for success that distinguished the United States from the rest of the world!

Consider what the requirements of the Immigration and Nationality Act are concerning the issuance of nonimmigrant visas for aliens who are admitted for a temporary period of time in order that they perform a specific job in the United States. Check out this link about the requirements that relate to the issuance of temporary work visas for non-agricultural workers:

If you review the material to be found at that link you will find the following Excerpt:

H-2B Temporary Non-Agricultural Workers

The H-2B non-agricultural temporary worker program allows U.S. employers to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary nonagricultural jobs. A U.S. employer must file a Form I-129, Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker, on a prospective worker’s behalf.

To qualify for H-2B nonimmigrant classification:

– The employer must establish that its need for the prospective worker’s services or labor is temporary, regardless of whether the underlying job can be described as permanent or temporary. The employer’s need is considered temporary if it is a one-time occurrence, a seasonal need, a peak-load need, or an intermittent need

– The employer must demonstrate that there are not sufficient U.S. workers who are able, willing, qualified, and available to do the temporary work

– The employer must show that the employment of H-2B workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers

– Generally, a single, valid temporary labor certification from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), or, in the case where the workers will be employed on Guam, from the Governor of Guam, must be submitted with the H-2B petition. (Exception: an employer is not required to submit a temporary labor certification with its petition if it is requesting H-2B employment in a position for which the DOL does not require the filing of a temporary labor certification

Please consider these two requirements I have copied from that brief passage above:

The employer must demonstrate that there are not sufficient U.S. workers who are able, willing, qualified, and available to do the temporary work

The employer must show that the employment of H-2B workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers

This is the concept behind one of the primary concerns about immigration- that by admitting foreign workers into our country that American workers will not be adversely impacted!

Yet the administration has made it seem as though the enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws is unfair to illegal aliens- the reality is that illegal immigration is unfair to American workers!

This is a point that is never, ever discussed when politicians are asked about illegal immigration. The time has come for this issue to become one of the central issues that need to be considered when the issue of immigration is raised!

What is also ignored is the fundamental we are less than one month from the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

How in blazes can we hope to protect our nation and our citizens from terrorists who desire to come to our country to kill still more innocent victims when our nation’s borders are not secure and tens of millions of illegal aliens from virtually every country on the face of this planet live in communities across this vast nation and the true identities, backgrounds and potential criminal or terrorist affiliations of these millions of aliens are unknown and unknowable and no record even exists as to their presence in our country?

Yet there are politicians, including several who took to the stage a few days ago in Iowa, who seem to want to provide these millions of illegal aliens with a pathway to United States citizenship!

Until and unless our nation’s leaders come to accept the pivotal nature of border security and the effective enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws, our nation and our citizens will pay a steep price!

I fear that the price will be paid in green (money) and red (blood)!

Please take the time to read my commentary that I have posted below.

A country without secure borders can no more stand than can a house without walls!

If our country is to survive and if our children and their children are to get their share of the “American Dream” the citizens of this nation must take their citizenship seriously!

We the People must be the best citizens we can be, citizens who are worthy of the gallantry demonstrated by our valiant men and women in the military, law enforcement and firefighters, who routinely go in harm’s way in defense of this nation and our citizens.

I hope you are planning to watch these various debates and interview- they are the equivalent of a job interview and you must remember that We the People will decide who we should hire to be our next President! We must take this responsibility extremely seriously!

My goal in writing this and other commentaries is to point out our nations many failings before more victims pay the ultimate price for the incompetence and ineptitude of our government.

The first step in problem-solving is to first identify the problems and vulnerabilities and then devise strategies to overcome them.

If you find yourself to be in agreement with this commentary, I ask that you forward it to as many of your friends and family members as possible and encourage them to do the same. We need to create a “Bucket Brigade of Truth!”

The practice of good citizenship does not end in the voting booth, it only begins there.

The large scale apathy demonstrated by citizens of this nation has emboldened elected representatives to all but ignore the needs of the average American citizen in a quest for massive campaign funds and the promises of votes to be ostensibly delivered by special interest groups. There is much that we cannot do but there is one thing that We the People absolutely must do- we must stop sitting on the sidelines!

The collective failure of We the People to get involved in make our concerns known to our politicians have nearly made the concerns of the great majority of the citizens of this nation all but irrelevant to the politicians. I implore you to get involved!

I believe our nation’s is greatly benefited by the rich diversity of our people which is why I could never imagine living anywhere except New York City, arguably the most diverse city in our nation if not, in fact, the world. However, my idea of diversity most certainly does not include members of MS-13, the Mexican drug cartels or members of other transnational gangs or members of al-Qaeda!

If our government’s failures to secure our nation’s borders and effectively enforce our immigration laws concerns you or especially if it angers you, I ask you to call your Senators and Congressional “Representative. This is not only your right- it is your obligation!

All I ask is that you make it clear to our politicians that we are not as dumb as they hope we are!

We live in a perilous world and in a perilous era. The survival of our nation and the lives of our citizens hang in the balance.

This is neither a Conservative issue, nor is it a Liberal issue- simply stated, this is most certainly an AMERICAN issue!

You are either part of the solution or you are a part of the problem!

Democracy is not a spectator sport!

Lead, follow or get out of the way!

Additionally- this summer, on Friday afternoons from 4:00 PM until 5:00 PM Eastern Daylight Savings Time, I will be filling in for Tom Garcia as the host on The USA Talk Radio Network’s excellent radio show, “The American Hour.” *

Michael Cutler, a former Senior INS Investigator, an expert witness in more than a dozen Congressional Hearings is a Fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies and an advisor to the ‘911 Families for a Secure America.’ He writes about the nexus between immigration and national security.